The present invention is directed to a tray indexing apparatus and, in particular, to a tray indexing apparatus for indexing trays containing rows of containers to be filled beneath a filler head where they are filled.
One problem faced by those industries where a product is manufactured and placed in suitable containers is that of rapidly and economically filling the appropriate containers with the product.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus whereby trays containing rows of containers to be filled, such as pharmaceutical vials, cosmetic jars and the like, can be processed for rapidly and economically filling the containers.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus whereby a plurality of trays of containers can be successively advanced to a position for filling the containers and then further advanced as another tray is brought into position for filling--the entire operation being automatically repeated until all trays have been so processed.
Therefore, according to the present invention, an apparatus is provided which can rapidly and economically process trays with containers to be filled by indexing them beneath a filler head where the containers are filled. In addition, with the apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of such trays of containers can be successively advanced to a position for indexing, indexed beneath the filler head where the containers are filled and then further advanced away from the filler head as another tray is brought into position for indexing and filling--the entire operation being automatically repeated until all trays have been so processed.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the description of a preferred embodiment set forth hereinafter when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein the same reference numerals are used to designate like parts throughout the several figures.